Published 17:53 IST, March 5th 2020
Facebook closes Seattle office after one of its workers tested postive for coronavirus
Facebook said infected worker was last seen at the Stadium East facility, employees were notified, and the company was now following health safety protocols.
Facebook has reportedly shut down its Seattle office in the US after a contractor was tested positive for the coronavirus. It asked the employees to work from home until the end of the month as directed by the health officials. The office is expected to remain closed for at least a week, confirmed international media report.
According to the reports, Facebook revealed that the infected worker was last seen at the Stadium East facility on February 21. It said that its employees were notified, and the company was following strict public health safety protocols to prioritize everyone’s health and safety.
International reports revealed that apart from Facebook US, Google and Amazon employees also contracted the strain of the disease elevating health concerns. A spokesperson for Amazon told the media that an employee had been affected, and the company was fully supporting the affected person. It said that the patient had been quarantined. The spokeswoman confirmed that all the co-workers in contact with the affected employee, who worked at Amazon's South Lake Union office complex in Seattle, had been informed. The company informed that two of its employees in Milan had also been infected with COVID-19 and were under mandatory quarantine.
Two companies in India report cases
Paytm recently, announced that it would be temporarily closing down its Gurgoan office after an employee was tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The Fintech company announced that it had advised all its colleagues to work from home for at least two days until further contacts that were exposed to the patient were traced. Currently, efforts to sanitize the office are underway. The infected employee had allegedly returned from Italy recently.
Another tech giant Intel in Bangalore announced in a statement that one of its employees in Bengaluru had 'potentially been exposed' to the virus and has been isolated to prevent the further spread. The company told the media that several precautionary measures like travel restrictions, frequent office sanitization, and work-from-home provisions were being implemented to stop the disease explosion.
Updated 17:53 IST, March 5th 2020